


Different

by teagarden15



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25600852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teagarden15/pseuds/teagarden15
Summary: After witnessing how popular Masumi is with the opposite sex and how blatantly he doesn’t care, Izumi questions why he sees her so differently from every other girl.
Relationships: Tachibana Izumi/Usui Masumi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	Different

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this about a month ago back when I originally planned to post my A3! fanfics on fanfiction.net (my default fan site), but then I found this community instead! . . . but then didn’t post this fic because I got caught up in rare pairs week.

Sakuya had told Izumi that Masumi was popular with the girls at school, but it was still a shock to see him surrounded by fans when she happened to spot him coming home from school at the train station. What was more surprising was the fact that he ignored them. Completely. 

It wasn’t that she expected him to show any interest. He was very clearly interested in her and her alone, a fact that he expressed weekly if not daily, but she at least expected him to acknowledge the existence of the girls loudly expressing their adoration of him. 

It made her wonder for the first time what it was about her that had ensnared Masumi’s attention. He’d become quite attached to her from nearly the moment they met. If Masumi had already had so many young women trying to catch his attention, what was it about her that was so different? 

She was tempted to ask him outright, but was afraid he would consider that to be her encouraging his affections. Instead, she asked Sakuya if he knew why Masumi felt so strongly about her when he seemed to have no interest in any other female. Sakuya dutifully promised to ask Masumi why he loved Izumi so much. 

When Sakuya reported back to her, he told her that Masumi had simply said, “Because she’s perfect. I love everything about her.” Which was not helpful and certainly didn’t answer her question. So, she decided to push the matter to the back of her mind. It was only for curiosity’s sake that she wanted the answer, after all. The knowledge wouldn’t change anything.

She managed to forget about the incident and her question until the next time something similar happened. 

She was walking home from the store when she spotted Masumi ahead of her, strolling along as he listened to his headphones. She was about to call out to him when a gorgeous girl wearing the uniform of the school that Juza, Tenma, and Taichi went to appeared and tapped Masumi on the shoulder. 

Pausing, he lifted one headphone. Without meaning to, Izumi found herself pausing as well to watch the interaction. 

“Hi,” the girl said, smiling brightly and lowering her lashes in what Izumi imagined was meant to be a flirtatious look. “I couldn’t help noticing—”

“What do you want?” Masumi interrupted, turning enough so that Izumi could see the irritated look on his face. 

“Excuse me?” the girl asked, blinking as though she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. 

“You sounded like you were going to give a long explanation to something I don’t care about. I thought I’d speed things up.”

A red flush crawled up the girl’s face. “Never mind,” she snapped, before stomping away, muttering under her breath that the only guys as good looking as her were all jerks. 

“Masumi!” Izumi called out once the girl was out of earshot. 

Masumi turned and smiled when he saw her, pulling his headphones down around his neck. “Director.” Upon seeing her bags of groceries, he wordlessly held his hands out for them. 

She studied him as she passed the bags over. They had only taken a couple steps when she said, “You know, I bet that girl wanted to talk to you because she was interested in you. She probably thought you were cute.”

He scowled. “I only care if you think I’m cute. Your opinion is the only one that matters.” 

“Why is that?” Izumi asked before she could think better of it. 

“Why is your opinion in the only that matters? Because I love—”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” she interrupted, holding one hand up in a ‘stop’ motion. “Or, at least, not exactly what I meant. I’ve seen the crowds of girls that are your fans from school, fans that Sakuya tells me existed before you become a stage actor. You show no interest in them at all. What is it about me that’s different?” 

He opened his mouth and she jumped in to say, “And don’t tell me that it’s because I’m perfect, because I’m certainly not.” 

Masumi shut his mouth, confirming her suspicion that that was exactly what he’d planned to say. 

“You were bright,” he finally said. “That first time I saw you, when you were doing a street act with Sakuya and Matsukawa. Even from how far away I was, I could still see how much fun you were having, how enthusiastic you were. I’d never seen anyway show so much enthusiasm before.” He smiled. “It was cute. Before I knew it, I somehow found myself mesmerized by you. I couldn’t look away from your act.” 

Izumi blushed. She’d wanted an honest answer and gotten one, but she hadn’t expected it to make her feel self-conscious. She was well aware how terrible her acting was, but it still made her happy that her terrible acting had connected with something inside Masumi. 

He was so disinterested in the world around him that she could see her boundless enthusiasm being something that sparked his interest. 

Ninety-five percent of his effort in life went toward acting and his relationship with her, with everything else seeming like it was an inconvenience for him. Maybe it was a case of opposites attracting. On his side, of course, not hers. 

~.~  


That night, Masumi found himself staring up at his ceiling as he remembered the fateful day he’d first met the director. 

He’d been watching her act and before he knew it, found himself pressed against the railing, staring down at the street act while his music played in his ears. It took him a while to realize that the woman wasn’t alone, that there were two guys with her. They had seemed dull standing next to her. 

He didn’t know how long he’d stood there before Izumi walked over to him. He remembered being surprised as he pulled his headphones down so he could hear whatever she wanted to say. 

“Are you interested in theater?” she’d asked. “You’ve been watching us pretty intently for a while now.” 

Masumi hadn’t given theater a second thought once in his life, but with the enthusiastic woman staring up at him, her eyes still shining brightly, he’d found himself unable to give that as an answer. He’d wanted to know more about the woman and why she was so enthusiastic and shined so brightly. He’d decided right then and there that if being involved in theater would get him closer to that woman, then he’d suddenly developed a new and passionate love for it.


End file.
